Ready to start Testing?

Ok so now that you've gotten charting down you can go ahead an use an ovulation calculator. 'Wait? Didn't you say stay away?' Ahhh good! You were listening. Let me clarify. You should use an ovulation calendar not a calculator. Here's a few reason why...

Ovulation on day 14 is a myth

Ovulation calculators assume a regular cycle length and use a 14 day average to estimate ovulation so are probably not the most accurate for you

Your ovulation day can vary month to month, especially during high stress times

Ovulation 14 days before your expected period is based on nation average. In actuality it's normal to ovulate anywhere from 10-16 days before menstration

And did you know you are the most fertile right BEFORE you actually ovulate?

Timing is everything

Timing really is everything and that's why you should skip over the ovulation calculator and get yourself ovulation testing strips. These will not only give you a better understanding of when is the best time to try to conceive but it will tell you your most fertile time. The reason for this is because ovulation strips test for Luteinizing hormone (or LH). The LH hormone surges right before you ovulate and lasts for 24-36 hours. Which means once you receive a positive ovulation test result you know you are within the 24-36 hour time frame to conceive.

Now remember this isn't pinpointed to the minute you test but rather that the test is letting you know you are somewhere within that window. You may be at the begging of the window or at the tail end. A great practice is to test at the same time every morning. Specifically as soon as you wake up when your urine is the most concentrated and undiluted from a night of rest. This way you can more accurately determine how long is has been since your last test.

When Charting helps

Here's where it gets really helpful to have been charting your cycle. Once you have a good idea of your charted cycle you become pretty aware of the day you generally ovulate. A day or two before your planned "O" day test twice a day with an ovulation strip. You'll have a morning and evening test so you can really narrow down that window of opportunity. Now you could go out to your local pharmacy or big box named store and pick up these testing strip kits but i've found them to get pretty expensive. And when you're a control freak like me, needing to know exactly the right time, you tend to need a lot of test strips. Also considering it's completely normal for the average young, healthy couple take up to a year to conceive, the cost can really add up. A better option is to buy in bulk from a site like Early Pregnancy.